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Friday, May 11, 2012

7 Thing You Believe About Faction War That are MYTHS

1. PVPING in Faction War will permanently ruin my faction standings.

*PVP actually results in minimum faction standings losses. The biggest standings loss is with the opposing militia's npc corporation. However, standings with this corporation doesn't determine the ability to fly in that Faction's space without getting shot by the Faction police.

The activity that mostly hurts your faction standings is mission running and plexing. If you don't plan to mission run, you are all set! I've been in Factoin War for years and can still enter any Faction's highsec based on my faction standings. (CONCORD standings are another matter. ;)

*Edit Note: Hans J pointed out to me that Plexing will also reduce your Faction standings, as plexing will increase your rank within your own militia. (Which also decreases your standing with the hostile militia.) Since I haven't done much plexing, I haven't had a problem with this personally. The fact remains that pvping in Faction War will not get you banned from any Faction's high-sec.

2. I can only join the Militia if my character is racially from that Faction.

Actually, you can join any faction you want to! Joining the NPC corp requires .5 faction standings, but most player owned corporations that are actively recruiting do not require standings for you to join their ranks.

3. All militia pilots are pvp noobs.

Having personally engaged in a lot of game play in EVE, both in faction War, high-sec wars, null-sec sovereignty taking, and etc. I can assure you that not all Faction War pilots are noobs. I've witnessed some of the best pvpers in action while in Faction War.

I'm not talking about kill numbers, or pilots that can perform great under great FCs. (Though we have lots of those too!) I'm talking about people who know what they're doing. People who know all the 'nitty gritty' stuff about pvp, and do not have to rely upon an FC calling primaries and telling them where and when to warp in order to achieve a good outcome in an engagement.

4. Faction War pilots are all roleplayers.

LOL! This couldn't be further from the truth. As any of the 'real' roleplayers will attest to, they are actually a minority in Faction War.

Also, roleplayers aren't very 'roleplayee' in Faction War. You don't really have people spouting role playing dialog, or etc.(Unless they are trying to troll you.) A lot of the roleplayers I fly with are pretty nice guys. Sure, they act all indignant when I GCC on neutrals, (while desperately looking through that player's history to see if they can find a role-playing reason to shoot him too) and some of them will only fly their Faction's ships, but in general they just want to fool around and pvp like we do.

I would bet my ISK on a bunch of Faction War roleplayers over a bunch of null-sec lemmings any day of the week.

5. Faction War is boring.

That might have been true in the past, where things would get pretty quiet in some militias for long periods of time. But it's certainly not the case anymore. A lot of militias are gearing up for Inferno. To be completely honest with you, in the two-ish years I've been in militia, I've never seen it as 'hot' as it is right now. Last night, I pvped striaght for 3-4 hours. Fight after fight after fight. We reshipped to frigates, then cruisers, then frigates, then battlecruisers, then cruisers....depending on what size plexes were open and what we needed to counter the Amarr with.

It gets so bad some days that hostiles ask in local if we can all pause for a bathroom break....lol!! (He was kidding, but you get the picture...)

6. If I join the NPC militia corp, I'll get ignored by the rest of militia.

To be honest, in my own experience, militia pilots are a lot less worried about spies these days. (Maybe because we've fought each other so much we don't need spies to predict each other's movements.)

Faction War is like any other corporation and alliance. You can't expect handouts, or handholding. If you want to be involved and meet people, you'll need to put yourself out there. Speak up, ask questions. X up when it looks like things are going on --maybe you'll get an invite, maybe you won't. Start being proactive--roaming and solo pvping. Report action and hostiles in militia when it's relevant. People will start recognizing your name overtime, and eventually you'll get 'in' with some of them.

Faction War is like anything else. You need to take responsibility and step-out--and not expect that you'll be trusted immediately or entrusted with anything serious the minute you walk through the door.

7. I'll get 'stuck' if I join Faction War.

As I've already mentioned, if you're not mission-running much, standings won't really be a problem.
Also, being n Faction War doesn't restrict you as much as people think. Lots of people engage in activities outside of Faction War while being in Faction War -- like DED plexing, wormhole operations, roaming in null-sec, piracy, incursions.

Faction War is actually one of the easiest things to get in and out of.

You can get in and out relatively quickly and painlessly

We operate in empire, so you don't have to worry about losing access to your stuff when you leave (like in null-sec)

You can easily change sides, if you have the appropriate standings or an invite from a player owned corporation. (unlike null-sec or high-sec wardeccing)

You can enter as an individual, corporation, or alliance

There are plenty of market hubs nearby the warzone (and in some cases within the warzone) for you to reship and get supplies. Accessing market hubs is really easy, with no bubble camps or etc. to stop you.

You don't have to worry about your past, or your recruitment history in most instances. Most militia pilots don't really care what you did in null-sec. (They'll just assume that they'll probably have to completely retrain you to think for yourself.)

The experience you gain in Faction War (not to mention all the kills you'll get on your killboard) will help you when you look into doing other things in EVE.

I just setup a POS in Hi-Sec for researching, I am the only person in my corp that can do the R&D. I do not have any alts, don't have to time for more than 1 character. If I were to convince my friends in the corp to join FW is the POS considered a free target for the opposing FW?

When you join FW are you a target for the opposing militia any any system?

What would be the recommended starting hangar you would recommend before getting into FW?

You are a target in any system so anyone in the opposing militia could shoot your POS but as long as it isn't in enemy high-sec I wouldn't worry about it because killing a high-sec POS with faction rats shooting you is more trouble than it's worth. For a starting hanger you don't need anything fancy, just some frigs/destroyers and cruisers to get your feet wet and get a feel for FW.

My corp has been in FW since it began. We have poses in both high sec and low sec. I will attempt to answer your questions.

First, if you join FW, yes you are a valid war target for the two opposing militias anywhere in the universe, in any system. The thing to remember is that there are NPC navy ships in high sec systems that will attack enemy militia members on sight. These navy NPCs do not warp scramble but they do shoot. I have tackled an enemy militia member in my own high sec and held point long enough for the navy to kill him. So while you are vulnerable to war targets in high sec (just like any war) in FW, you get NPC backup. That also means that you will be attacked by NPCs if you fly into enemy high sec space.

As for you question about POS's in high sec. Yes, they are valid targets for anyone you are at war with, including enemy FW pilots. War targets can shoot your POS in high sec without being attacked by CONCORD. Note, however, that the friendly navy will engage militia war targets at your POS, assuming your POS is in friendly space. Also note, cynos cannot be lit in high sec space, so no dreads or carriers etc will be able to attack your pos. A well organized battleship fleet with logistics support could assault your POS in high sec, but not much else would be a threat. Put a few guns at least on it, a warp scram battery, and you will be fine. Our POS has never been assaulted by the enemy militia, nor have I ever heard of anyone's high sec POS being attack in high security space by faction war militias. Low sec POS's have been attacked by militias numerous times.

Now, as to a recomended startign hanger... Honestly, that's a personal decision. I don't know what ships you can fly, how you prefer to fly, etc. Basics for beginners perhaps I would recommend a small stack (think 5 or so) of your favorite t1 frig (rifter if you are minmatar) and 5 or so destroyers. That will ensure you can get into the minor complexes to participate in FW. Have some cruisers and a bc or two also, so you can fight in larger fights if that is required. Battleships are over-rated by new FW pilots, in my opinion. Fly 'em if you like 'em, but smaller ships can get into more plexes. Some people lose 5 ships in a day, other times a ship might last a long time. So again, recomending a starting hanger is kind of hard.

Oh, and if you plan on flying solo, you should t2 fit your ships at least, and rig them all of course. Solo pilots in FW tend to use every advantage they can get, so a t1 fit ship is just going to get murdered by a superior fit, probably it's first time out.

Thanks Urik and Grim for the responses. I only fly Minmatar ships but I do have level 5 in frigate, cruiser, battleship, battlecruiser, command ships and strategic cruiser. I have level 4 in destroyer, logistics, recon, and assault ships. I can T2 fit most modules.

My biggest concern is the fly only what you can afford. Also, I typical log in for an hour to do PI and research each day. Maybe on the weekends get a couple hours to do other things. So I don't have a steady income to replace lost ships. Pretty much what has kept me away from pvp in Eve.

I cannot wait for this, FW has never been the thing that people on the outside think it is. I've found it to be one of the few true, vibrant communities in Eve that is made up of people that aren't aligned by their ideology but by their love of no-strings attached pvp and just having a kick-ass good time.

yeah, part of me is afraid that these changes will mean that holding space is the most inportant thing, so much so that pvp fights and fun become secondary. In that regard, like null sec. Where doing the job of maintaining control steals the fun from the flying. Hopefully the market will keep things in balace, such that if your side isn't winning and therefor you are getting more fewer LPs, then the stuff you turn in the LPs for is more scarce and the price for it is higher. And I hope we as pilots don't forsake fights just to hold all systems. I remember being in 00 way back when and the FC saying stuff like, "I don't want to give them good fights, bring your biggest best ships and everyone come. That way, these invaders will be demoralized and not want to come back!" That happens in 00, but I don't want it to happen here in FW.

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